Sixteen departments fight fire in Paullina

It took 16 fire departments to battle a blustery blaze in the apartments above Mesner’s Restaurant in the northwest Iowa town of Paullina last night. The O’Brien County communications center got word of the fire shortly after 9:30 with Paullina police and fire called to the scene.

After evacuating all residents from the apartments and adjacent businesses, fire crews from 15 communities from a cluster in northwest Iowa ranging from Sutherland to Orange City were called to help battle the blaze. Fire crews were on the scene throughout the night and were hindered by the weather conditions which included a Blizzard Warning across the region.

The fire resulted in a significant amount of property damage. The Iowa State Fire Marshal has been called in to determine the cause of the fire.